Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126068
In th e 125 Pro class. G ary Den ton and Mark Ty er had dominated the four five-lap qu alifying hea ts, and th ey lo oked to .be th e favorites fo r th e eight-lap fin al. But. of all of th e cl asses, th e 125s are th e m o st compe ti tive and unpredi ctable. Alon g with Denton and T yer, th ere had to be o the r favor it es like th e . d efendin g Nigh t Na tion als Champ ion, Dave T ay lor. o r Irw indale regu lars J ohn A two od . I\lar k "l\lad !\Ian " Law ren ce. Eddie Clar k, and Dave Pessy . They ha d all cap tu red th e 125 Pro cla ss th rou gh out the year. T he n . there were tough 12 5 Pro s, who weren ' t to o familiar wit h t he Irwin dale tra ck, like Chuck Bow er. Bruce :\IcD ougall, and Bobby J o nes. So. en te ring th e fin ale fo r the 125 Pr os. th e favorit es were up to abou t eigh t o r n ine ride rs. But. at the d rop of th e ga te, th ere soon p roved to be no doubt why th ey ca ll Gary ' Den ton th e " Kin g of Irw ind ale," as Denton began to run away from th e rest of th e field. By the ha lfway m ar k. Denton was a good quarter o f a lap ahead and loo king strong. The battle for second saw Atwood an d Tay lor diced all ove r the trac k, and Bo b by J ones and Dave Pessy also stayed very close in case anyone was to make a m istake. Tay lor was really giving A twood all he co uld hand le ove r t he " Wheelsmith Jum p, " and David tried to slip undern ea th J oh n in the left hand comer af ter the jump. But Tay lor had the fro n t wheel washou t o n him, and he went down. By the ti me Taylor could get back u p and moving, J on es, Pessy, and Jim Domann, who fin ishe d second to Taylor last year, had moved by David. Taylor finally go t by Domann for the fifth, bu t tha t was all h e could get back when the checkered flag came ouL On the final lap, the cro wd was on th eir feet and cheering for Denton, who was pu tting on '3 riding lesson for the field. The Checkered flag crossed Den to n 's bike, and Gary 's goal fo r 1976 at Irwindale had been reached. Second went to Atwood, who held a consistent line after his battle with Taylor, while third was J ones, who rode very well in his first Irwindale appearance t his y ear. The veteran Pessy got the founh place m on ey with his usual steady riding, and Tay lor, very disappointed after his crash, took fifth . For the final race of th e night, the top two finishers from each of the Pro classes we re to return fo r a tw o-lap "King of the Hill. " T he "King of the Hill" race at Irwindale is quite u nique, because it is th e on ly time of the night that th e track is ridden backwa rds. To m ake it even more in terest in g, th er e was plenty of money up ,for the top two p laces, $200 to win and $100 for second, but n othin g for ,third, fo urth, fifth. and six th oThe 125 riders were se t, as Denton and Atwood h ad finished oned-two, but th e 250 and 500 cl asses found Mik e Bell with a firs t in -t he big bikes and second in th e 250s. So Bell had to m ak e a ch oice of wh ich motorcycle he w anted to ride in the "King of th e Hill," and Mik e decided to go with th e bi g 44 0 four- st roke, Vidic the n was the only 25 0 in th e co mpe tit io n , an d Be11 and Turn er m ad e up - th e 500 bikes. The 125 m achines received a yardage head start ove r the 25 0, and Vid ic was in fr ont o f Bell and Turner in th e lineup. Stu Pe ters dropped th e green flag for the " highest paid race ever in SoCal ni ght motocr o ss. " as the winn er was to m ake abou t three doll ar s per second in th e tw o-Iap pe r. Den ton to o k th e lead in th e first co m er with A twood a nd Vidic staying very close and wa iti ng fo r a mis tak e. Vid ic then slipped un der A tw ood fo r second, as Den to n and five- rid er field m oved to ward th e big " X-ten d Jump." Vidic co n tinued to close o n Den ton a fte r th e straighaway. which saw Bell go down and end his sho t a t th e bi g m on ey. With the fin al lap to go . it w as ju st a tw o rider m at ch between D enton and Vidi c. Den to n co n tinued to lead as th ey m ad e the left h an d corn er before th e b ig jum p for t he fina l tim e. But Vid ic wen t to the ou tside a nd u sed th e horsepowe r o f the Maic o to m ot or by Denton and take th e lead. Gary tried to co me back, bu t it was Vid ic for S2 lJO and Den to n fo r 10Q • Resul ts in Results Se c tio n. J IF YOU'RE.. IN THE MARKET FOR AN.OFF-ROAD BIKE... ... (l) ..0 o ..... u o REFLECT 0 THS! CYCLE BUYE RS GUIDE .. ." 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